55,000 of my neighbors voted for a neo-Nazi

The most disturbing thing for me about this year’s election is that over 25 percent of my neighbors voted for a neo-Nazi. While incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski easily defeated the Republican candidate Arthur Jones in the Illinois 3rd Congressional District, I am appalled that Jones received even one vote.

This isn’t hyperbole. Jones is a former member of the American Nazi Party and an outspoken Holocaust denier. He brags of attending racist and white-supremacist events. His political symbol is an elephant representing the GOP draped with a Confederate flag. With all the finger-pointing that this candidate or that elected official promotes racist, fascist or totalitarian ideals, Jones stands out as the real McCoy.

No one needed to vote for Jones. The Republican Party rightfully distanced itself from him, and, if you did not want to vote for Lipinski, there were two more conservative candidates that voters could have written in. Still over 55,000 of my neighbors in the Chicago-area chose to vote for Jones, and we should be ashamed of this. His vote tally serves as a stark reminder that there are Americans who are willing to forget our nation’s struggles with the very dark policies that he promotes.